Author: Cath @ Get Money Wise

Welcome to my third quarterly update which details my net worth and cash flow as at the end of September 2017 as well as the goals I have set for myself for the next quarter.

If mine is the first personal finance blog you have come across firstly I am super humbled by that and secondly you might be thinking this is kind of strange putting the info out there for the world to see.

However, it is a fairly regular occurrence with bloggers to either track their net worth or report their monthly income. For example, J.Money over at Budgets are Sexy has been tracking his net worth for over nine years now and so have a bunch of other bloggers that you can check out in the Rockstar Blog Directory.

I debated whether I should post this or not as I was not sure about how the information would be received, particular here in Australia where ‘tall poppy syndrome’ can mean anyone who seems to be doing ok can be shot down in a hurry.

But my view is that if you have come to my site which is about becoming financially independent in order to retire early then you must be a little bit open-minded and willing to discuss what can be a taboo subject. Continue Reading →

I know broad statements about gender are risky. As the way someone approaches their finances is an individual as can be. But there is no denying that there are some trends and studies that show a difference in the way men and women view investing.

You only need to take a look at some of the bloggers in the personal finance space to see some of these trends emerging. There is a lot of blogs by women that are focused on budgeting, saving and being thrifty.

Whilst most of the bigger names in the financial independence and early retirement blogosphere are males (think J. Money, Mr Money Moustache, Grant at Millennial Money and Mad Fientist.

So the question is, are women or men better with money? And is there something we might be able to learn from each other.

Men earn more

I mentioned this in my know your worth post, that a gender divide still remains and is not going to go away anytime soon. As a result, men tend to have more money in investments than their female counterparts.Continue Reading →

When it comes to managing your income and outgoing expenses, without a budget you can quickly lose track of where your money is being spent.

No-one enjoys living from one payday to the other, so the best way to get control of your finances is to start with a budget.

Even the mention of the word can make some people cringe. But it is important to know that there are lots of different budgeting methods, so finding the right one that gels with you could be the key to success.

In this blog, I take a look at the top 7 budgeting methods that are easy to follow. You are sure to find the right one that fits your personality and budgeting style.

The percentage or buckets method

This method of budgeting has been written about in a number of different finance books over the years. In essence, it is dividing your income into a number of different categories or buckets that are broken up into a percentage amount.Continue Reading →

A few weeks ago I watched a short clip from Kerwin Rae, a business strategist and motivational speaker. He often does short snippets of video on his Facebook page and this particular one really resonated with me.

The clip was all about three common triggers that propel people along quickly in their pursuit of wealth.

The three triggers to create massive momentum when building wealth were:
A new relationship
Birth of a child
Experiencing mortality

This got me thinking as to how this is in fact so true in my life, and perhaps it might be in yours too. In this post I take you through how these three triggers have shaped my financial path.

A new relationship

In the clip, it talks about how meeting someone and starting a relationship can inspire you to feel like you can conquer the world.Continue Reading →

When it comes to kids bank accounts here in Australia, they are often anything but straightforward. Headline rates might look appealing. But when you do a little digging, there are special conditions and bonus rates that can require you to jump through hoops.

Having worked in marketing for both the big banks and credit unions, there is a common saying from “womb to tomb”. Basically, that is the utopia of a banking relationship.

Having someone as a customer from when they are a child, through to when they are an adult is the best kind of customer a bank could ask for.

Essentially we pay a hidden ‘tax’ we pay for being loyal.

This is also the case for kids bank accounts. The bank will sweeten the deal with an introductory or bonus rate, that then later converts to a low rate.

If you keep an eye on your kid’s accounts you can definitely maximise the value you get from them.

Here is my list of the top picks for kids savings accounts in August 2017. Note that rates may have changed since then. UPDATED FEBRUARY 2019Continue Reading →

The Great Divide

The media will often come out with generalisations like the gender wage gap is currently 16%, or that men’s Superannuation is near twice the size of a women’s at retirement.

Whilst these statements are true, they do little to get the real issue the attention it deserves. Because these articles are often met with rebuttals like ‘women do more service based jobs like child care and nursing which are lower paid’ or ‘women take time out of the workforce to raise children’.

Comparing simple averages across the whole workforce allows people to pick holes in the argument. And then conclude that the wage gap is a myth.Continue Reading →

Just over a week ago I was sitting in a room at Rydges Southbank in Brisbane with a brilliant bunch of bloggers at the ProBlogger conference.

I am a big believer in investing in yourself, so saw this as a great way for me to hear from people who have created a name for themselves in the blogging world. I wanted to learn all I could about serving my community and helping to get my money management message out to a wider audience.

As I sat in a room with over 150 other bloggers on day one of the two day event, Darren Rowse, the face behind the Problogger website, delivered his opening address.

He has been blogging for over 15 years and over this time he has learnt a thing or two about what is needed to remain a blogger over the long term.

The two core traits he identified were – Persist and Evolve.

As he was talking I could not help but jot down a note that these are also the two core traits you need on your journey to financial independence.

Let’s look at each of the traits in terms of how they relate to both blogging and money management.Continue Reading →

When I first decided to start my blog and was going through the process to select a name for my blog, a fellow finance blogger by the name of Kylie Travers was the very first person who opened me up to the wonderful community.

She was the first to put up her hand and welcome me into the wonderful world of personal finance bloggers.

When I looked into her background a bit more I realised what an amazing women she is. So I could not be happier when Kylie agreed for me to interview her about how she makes over $10,000 a month just by selling stuff online!

Can you let us know a little bit about yourself? Your story is an inspiring which I am sure readers would love to hear a bit about.

I’ve gone from being a homeless single mother because of domestic violence to multiple international award winning CEO, speaker, author, charity and brand ambassador, as well as creating a lifestyle for my daughters and I that we love.Continue Reading →

When it comes to managing your finances , it is important to know that there is no right way to manage your money.

I read lots of other blogs that talk about how they have tackled debt or gone about their investing journey.

And whilst there are some consistent themes among the stories, it becomes pretty clear that there is not just one way to manage your money.

The ways friends, family, work colleagues or even fellow bloggers handle their money will not necessarily work for you.

If you believe that there is a right way of paying off debt, managing your cash flow and saving for your retirement, an argument could be formed that if you are not doing things “the right way”, then what you are doing must be wrong.

I don’t prescribe to this way of thinking.

Of course there are different ways that can help you to reach your goal sooner or to get better returns on your investments, but that does not mean they are right for you.Continue Reading →

Note from Cath: Today we have a fantastic guest post from Leila, the creator of the awesome website Child Friendly Dining– it is the place to find all the best cafes, restaurants, play centres and Bar & Bistros that cater for kids.

I know some of you might be thinking it doesn’t make sense to spend your money on eating out. It is cheaper to cook at home. This is true, but a splurge every now and again I think is perfectly OK.

For us, we often head out on a weekend for lunch with our girls. Even the Barefoot Investor talks about being able to go out for date nights.

So for that reason Leila has joined us today to fill us in on how to get the best bang for our buck.

Families love to eat out, but we can’t always afford that luxury. According to recent studies, the average Australian household eats out a whopping two or three times each week!

Dining at restaurants and lunching at cafes is often the first thing to get cut from the family budget when things get tight.

Follow these eight simple steps to control your dining and save money to treat your loved ones to a relaxed family meal – free of any cooking, dishes and mess!

Know Your Limits

Putting a cap on your eating habits can help you not to splurge. Before you go out, set yourself a budget, be mindful about the prices on the menu and don’t over order on food and drinks.Continue Reading →